Abyss of Cenote

One of the main objectives of the Abyss of Cenote expedition was to produce a highly precise laser scan survey of the cave. Here, Farouk Kadded (left) of Leica Geosystems, France, and Tommaso Santagata (right) of the La Venta Exploration team are working in the ‘wind tunnel’ in the centre of the ice plug. Up until this point, the route through the cave is largely vertical, on ropes, between the cave wall and the outside of the ice plug. Here, the route turns horizontal for a short distance before resuming its vertical nature. Due to the change in size of the passage here as compared to the much larger chamber at the bottom of the cave, a strong wind blows through this tunnel, which changes direction depending on the temperature at the surface. Combining the already cold temperature of the cave with the strong wind makes working in this part of the cave rather challenging, especially when sat around for extended periods of time working the laser scanner.